nemy of the United States:
probably he was far more useful as a disturber of the councils of the
Confederacy than many who have already received amnesty. It is not
because of any particular and special damage that he, above others, did
to the Union, or because he was personally or especially of consequence,
that I except him. But I except him on this ground; that he was the
author, knowingly, deliberately, guiltily, and willfully, of the
gigantic murders and crimes at Andersonville. * * * *

"Mr. Speaker, this is not a proposition to punish Jefferson Davis. There
is nobody attempting that. I will very frankly say that I myself thought
the indictment of Mr. Davis at Richmond, under the administration of Mr.
Johnson, was a weak attempt, for he was indicted only for that of which
he was guilty in common with all others who went into the Confederate
movement. Therefore, there was no particular reason for it. But I will
undertake to say this, and as it may be considered an extreme speech, I
want to say it with great deliberation, that there is not a government,
a civilized government, on the face of the globe--I am very sure there
is not a European government--that would not have arrested Mr. Davis,
and when they had him in their power would not have tried him for
maltreatment of the prisoners of war and shot him within thirty days.
France, Russia, England, Germany, Austria, any one of them would have
done it. The poor victim Wirz deserved his death for brutal treatment,
and murder of many victims, but I always thought it was a weak movement
on the part of our government to allow Jefferson Davis to go at large,
and hang Wirz. I confess I do. Wirz was nothing in the world but a mere
subordinate, a tool, and there was no special reason for singling him
out for death. I do not say he did not deserve it--he did, richly,
amply, fully. He deserved no mercy, but at the same time, as I have
often said, it seemed like skipping over the president, superintendent,
and board of directors in the case of a great railroad accident, and
hanging the brakeman of the rear car.

"There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson Davis. Nobody is
seeking to do it. That time has gone by. The statute of limitation,
common feelings of humanity, will supervene for his benefit. But what
you ask us to do is to declare by a vote of two-thirds of both branches
of Congress, that we consider Mr. Davis worthy to fill the highest
offices in the United State